Pit bulls: Handle with care

PIT BULLS are responsible for more dog-bite fatalities in the United States than any other dog.

That information comes from an objective source - the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta - not from an organization that supports breed-specific regulations.

People who choose to own pit bulls owe it to their families, neighbors and communities to be among the most educated, conscientious and responsible dog owners in the country.

Otherwise, they put themselves and others at risk.

Sadly, that fact was hammered home with a stake through the heart of a family in Bryan County on Wednesday night. That's when Monica Renee Laminack, a 21-month-old toddler, was killed in a yard outside her family's Ellabell home by seven pit bulls or pit bull-mixed dogs.

Bryan County Sheriff Clyde Smith said Thursday that the little girl apparently had crawled through a doggie door - something she had done before. Then the dogs attacked her. He said five people were in the house at the time, which was sometime before 6 p.m., and her 12-year-old uncle was supposed to be watching her.

Clearly, that didn't happen.

The sheriff said four generations of the family live at the home. So did nine dogs. They apparently had the run of the house and the yard. The other two dogs were a beagle and an Irish setter.

He said all the pit bulls were euthanized, which is proper.

Dogs that attack and kill a human in this fashion aren't adoptable. The liability is too great.

While controversy swirls over whether such dogs are too dangerous to own, especially when unsupervised children may be present, there should be little question about putting down an animal that has already killed once.

The sheriff also said charges are likely against the child's 18-year-old mother, but that decision won't be made until after the funeral. That's the compassionate thing to do.

A little girl's life has ended tragically and it's important to grieve. There will be plenty of time later for the law and the courts to do their job.

In the meantime, however, all dog owners - specifically, pit bull owners - should view what happened in Ellabell as a learning experience.

All dogs have the potential to bite and inflict harm. But statistically, pit bulls and pit bull mixes are at the top of the fatality charts.

In a 20-year study of breeds involved in fatal human attacks in this country between 1979 and 1998, the CDC found that pit bull-type dogs were responsible for almost twice as many human deaths as the No. 2 dog breed, the Rottweiler, and about three times as many as the No. 3 dog breed, the German shepherd.

Pit bulls have powerful jaws and a thickly muscled, well-defined neck. It is considered extremely strong for its size. The American Kennel Club says on its website that bull terriers "become very attached to their owners and families and do not thrive when left alone. The breed loves children, but obedience training is necessary and care must be taken that they don't get over stimulated around younger children."

Unfortunately, bull terriers are also popular with illegal dog fighters and drug dealers, who encourage aggressive, anti-social behavior.

The National Canine Research Council has identified the most common factors found in fatal dog attacks occurring in 2006:

• 97 percent of the dogs involved were not spayed or neutered.

• 84 percent of the attacks involved owners who had abused or neglected their dogs, failed to contain their dogs, or failed to properly chain their dogs.

• 78 percent of the dogs were not kept as pets but as guard, breeding, or yard dogs.

This Bryan County family had nine dogs living under one roof, which is extreme. It's unclear if any were spayed or neutered, whether they had been abused or neglected or whether they were something other than pets. But those facts can be sorted out later.

For now, the public's prayers go to the little girl's family. Her tragic and avoidable death should encourage responsible dog ownership, especially of high-risk breeds. These dogs should come with a label that says "handle with care."

That means they should be spayed and neutered. They should be socialized. They must be watched when children are present. That's the bare minimum. Otherwise, get a goldfish.